Authentication is an integral part of various systems. Obtaining the data necessary for the authentication can be challenging. For example, information may be authenticated based on information from multiple data sources. However, various data sources often include incompatible formatting and encryption. For example, data obtained from files can be unstructured, data obtained from databases can be structured, but stored in fields or formats that are incompatible with each other, and data stored in any location can have varying security measures including encryption, digital signing, and so forth.
With the increased fast access to information on the Internet, efforts to authenticate are needed in real time and with increased accuracy. Exchanges of information are often not face-to-face, making authentication even more critical. Real time, accurate authentication is therefore necessary to help mitigate fraud and other criminal behavior.
Existing authentication services are lacking because they do not provide a robust authentication database. Rather, they are limited to one data source, or do not include information that is not compatibly formatted or compatibly secured. Thus, it would be advantageous to develop authentication methods and systems with sufficient robustness to provide real time, accurate authentication services.